DSHIO-RANK · Ranking
Organic ranking depends on data only and never moves for money. Paid placement is labelled and never occupies an organic slot.
This is the only clause that involves money, so it is written more
tightly than the rest: what can be bought, what cannot, and what it looks like afterwards.
Two parallel lists
| Organic | Paid placement | |
|---|---|---|
| Ordered by | A public formula | Payment plus our review |
| Can be bought | No | Yes |
| Labelling | Score breakdown shown | "Promoted" label shown |
| Position | Main list | Separate block above or beside it |
| Quantity | Unlimited | At most 2 per page |
The organic formula
score = 0.40 × download percentile
+ 0.25 × stars percentile
+ 0.25 × grade score
+ 0.10 × freshness
| Factor | Weight | Computed as |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads | 40% | Percentile within category (0-1) |
| Stars | 25% | Percentile within category (0-1) |
| Grade | 25% | A=1.0, B=0.8, C=0.5, D=0.2, E=0, untested=0.3 |
| Freshness | 10% | 30d=1.0, 90d=0.7, 180d=0.4, older=0.2 |
Why untested scores 0.3, not 0.
Untested is not "bad". Scoring 0 would bury every new plugin; scoring 1 would reward not testing.
0.3 means "we do not know, so we place it slightly below the middle".
The number may change with a standard version, and every change is recorded in the changelog.
The number may change with a standard version, and every change is recorded in the changelog.
Paid placement rules
| Rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| R1 | Must show a "Promoted" label and never mimic an organic result |
| R2 | Does not change the organic score — the plugin keeps its organic position |
| R3 | At most 2 placements per page |
| R4 | Grade D/E plugins are not eligible |
| R5 | We do not review features, but will refuse obviously abusive promotion |
| R6 | Promotional copy comes from the author; we mark its source |
What a placement looks like
┌─────────────────────────────────┐ │ [Promoted] dsh-pet │ │ Give your AI a pet that gets │ │ hungry │ │ ★ 413k downloads · A · Low risk │ └─────────────────────────────────┘ Organic 1. dshmarket ★ 907k · A · Low 2. dsh-pet ★ 413k · A · Low ← same plugin, organic slot unchanged 3. dsh-context ★ 340k · A · Low
R2 is the point.
Payment buys extra exposure, not a higher rank. A plugin may appear in both a
placement and the organic list, with its organic position set by data. That is what stops money
from pushing better plugins down.
What we will not do
| Never | Reason |
|---|---|
| Sell organic rank | Once it is buyable, rank means nothing |
| Sell grade A | Grades are computed from tests and are not tradable |
| Covert placement | Every paid position is labelled |
| Auction ranking | Placements are fixed-price, not bid |
Transparency commitment
At any time you can see each plugin's current score breakdown, know which positions are paid, and recompute the ranking against this document. If the live ranking disagrees with the formula, tell us and we will publish a correction.
Version history
| Version | Standard No. | Published | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0 | DSHIO/T 06—2026 | 2026-11-06 | First release |
The version increments on any clause change; older versions remain available.